Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in California Water Service Group were worth $783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,952 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 613,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,826,000 after buying an additional 32,053 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,789,000 after acquiring an additional 10,993 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,280.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total value of $30,574.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,280.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,874 shares of company stock valued at $202,318. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE CWT opened at $54.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.83. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $55.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. Research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

California Water Service Group Profile

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.